I just came across the following... rather entertaining, though some of the language is a little colourful so apologies for that (but it's not too bad).

Metta,Retro.

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... through the snow... through the desert... Barefoot... BOTH ways . Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take, like, a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3' s or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone. Cause - that's how we rolled, dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever!

And you could never win.. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel! NO REMOTES!!!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

The reality is that with the early 20's crowd, in general, there is a self-centered immaturity that tends to go away in one's 30's, I said, having yesterday been driven out of my lane and almost off the road by a 20 something eejit talking on her cell-phone totally oblivious to what she had just done, which a simple glance over her shoulder would have prevented, but would have interrupted the flow of her conversation.

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723

>> Do you see a man wise[enlightened/ariya]in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<<-- Proverbs 26:12

Negative Conceptions of GenY:There can be no doubt that not everyone believes that (perhaps apart from their own kids) theyouth today is the greatest, most beautiful and smartest generation that has entered this world. Infact, there are countless articles that tackle the problems of Generation Y and aim to explain whytoday’s youth is just not up to the standards of its predecessors. Common words and phrasesassociated with Gen Y are shown below. Need more be said?

Impatient Lazy Want to be nurtured (constant feedback, immediate recognition) at work Demand workplace flexibility Unresponsive to motivational tactics Motivated not only by money, but also fun and social (Maslow’s hierarchy) Easily bored (less consumerism, more engagement and stimulation) Unwillingness No job or brand loyalty Focus on live rather than work (work to live) Ignorance of politics No ‘sucking up’ but questioning and challenging employers Appearance From a workforce perspective: they are difficult to attract, harder to manage and areproving near impossible to retain. Increased sensitivity to economic class Image conscious Materialistic Demand rationale behind any request

Positive Conceptions of GenY:While some negative press about Generation Y has been predominant lately, it has to be realisedthat not all change is evil. In fact, positive aspects of this generation need to be highlighted, todecrease generational barriers and create a more cohesive workforce with more satisfiedemployers and employees. And there are plenty of positives about these individuals.Furthermore, times are changing. Generation Y is here to stay and will be a major part of theAustralian workforce. And they can be beneficial to any organisation, bringing youthful idealismand energy, a fresh view to the industry, new qualifications and a 21st century perspective to life.In addition, there are other positive associations for Generation Y, which are shown below:

It has to be acknowledged that pigeonholing an entire group of people into a category will onlyserve to give a general overview of a person’s anticipated needs and desires. Everyone’s story isunique and every individual has choices in how to respond to the surrounding environment andmake independent decisions. This could be said for all generations and people of all ages. It canalso be said that there have been countless teenagers and twens in the last 100 years that havebeen rebellious and wanted to change the world. However, it is safe to say that it is oursurrounding environment that shapes many of our character traits. Therefore, it is logical thatpeople born around the same time, in similar social, cultural, economic and technologicalenvironments will have similar characteristics. This in turn results in different perceptions of theworld and the way it works, known as generation gaps. For example, 48 % of Generation Y todaydo not believe home ownership will be achievable in their lifetime. This highlights that Australiais not the same place it was 25 years ago and therefore teenagers today are not like the teenagers25 years today.

Why are the Y’ers what they are?Generally described as impatent, demanding and self-interested with little job loyalty, it raisesthe question of why values are so different today. Generation Y, which has grown up amongglobal terror threats and corporate downsizing, is driven by duty, independence and stability. Tothem life is foremost and above all about choices. This generation has developed during one ofthe most expansive economies in the past 30 years.What needs to be realised is that Generation Y is the world’s first global generation. They are themost educated, entertained, materially endowed, entrepreneurial yet supported and protectedgeneration in history. Generation Y experienced the “working mum trend” first hand, so it is nowonder this generation places more emphasis on quality of life rather than standard of living andputs family and friends first.

While everyone has their own perception of this group of people andindividuals in it, there are some general observations of Generation Y that seem to be prominentin academic and popular literature. Generation of Choice Top three things they want in a job are positive relationships with colleagues, interestingwork and continuous opportunities for learning. When accepting a job, salary ranks sixth after training, management style, workflexibility, staff activities and non-financial rewards Internationally flexible (overseas recruitment) Community/Social driven: be respected, included, understood and accepted Decisions based on peers Increasingly short term focus (finish education) High disposable income (no financial commitments) Deferring adulthood Top 3 leisure activities being: go to a party, listen to radio, go to a movie Communicating mainly through SMS and web

Being just in the nder 30's catagory (10 month to go) Back home I think kids have it harder.

where I grew up there were sweet shops that sold sweets, and maybe a few essentials for the home when we ran out so I cold be sent, now there are shops which are mini supermarkets so the parents have to go with them becase the 50 brands of toilet tissues squeezen on the 2inch shelf will confuse them, and at one time the shop was only big enough for the local paper/ sweety shop???

yes we had to walk to the post box, but we also had to stand in dog poop on the way which gave us a good imune system, now the dogs have been given nappies, the kids are ill at the meer mention of a bug, and no more penny sweets which you chose yourself, now they are sealed in air tight containers you need to go to school for to work out how to open.

with health an safety all the rage they can only go out the door if they are wearing a buble suit fitted with airbags a safety belt, and a bumper so don't learn when it is unsafe to do something because it is always safe, so as adults they may die yonger due to inexperiance of the hazards of life and inability to find a bubble suit to fit them.

lets face it life isn't getting easier its far harder, all the kids now know how to do is play on the 3D life like grass, in the future human hands will be masive due to the muscle structure, the body will wither away, and humanity will just be a pair of hands with eyes on the tips!

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion … ...He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.John Stuart Mill

“Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.”-- attributed to Socrates

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

I think the Sumerian ranting against the decline of culture was even better said. Anyways, look at it this way, they get to have the planet when the previous sage generations are done with it...All I have to say is, when the music's over turn out the lights.

“Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.”-- attributed to Socrates

I've come across this before and found it amusing. I'm turning 30 and am in regular contact with first year university students who are mostly between 18-20. I must say that even though I find the younger generation quite different, a lot of their behaviour are not entirely unfamiliar.

I like to hang out whenever possible with groups of teenagers. They do, in fact, have it all figured out. Teenagers always have it all figured out. They are characteristically the only ones with the time to figure out what is going on. Everyone older, is getting on with it and has no time for this. That's just the way it goes. So at every opportunity I ask them, "whut up dog?" The 'word' is always very current and up to date, right to that moment. It is, of course, useless information the next day. Teenagers, use them or lose them.

nathan wrote:I like to hang out whenever possible with groups of teenagers. They do, in fact, have it all figured out. Teenagers always have it all figured out. They are characteristically the only ones with the time to figure out what is going on.

You don't really mean that do you Nathan?I work in a school and I have one (teenager, not school) living under the same roof as me.While I agree that their perspective can at times be fresh and thought provoking, one thing I wouldn't say is 'that they've got it all figured out'. Quite the opposite actually.By the way, I don't actually think you are Jesus, nor deriding your statement, its just an indication at my shock!!!!I really don't like smileys, but this one seems appropriate: Metta

Ben

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

nathan wrote:I like to hang out whenever possible with groups of teenagers. They do, in fact, have it all figured out. Teenagers always have it all figured out. They are characteristically the only ones with the time to figure out what is going on.

You don't really mean that do you Nathan?I work in a school and I have one (teenager, not school) living under the same roof as me.While I agree that their perspective can at times be fresh and thought provoking, one thing I wouldn't say is 'that they've got it all figured out'. Quite the opposite actually.By the way, I don't actually think you are Jesus, nor deriding your statement, its just an indication at my shock!!!!I really don't like smileys, but this one seems appropriate: Metta

Ben

hi Ben

No, I know I'm not Jesus, but we do chat from time to time. We couldn't very well have a conversation if we were the same person could we?

Why not talk to teenagers, hang out, play x-box, listen to rap and metal? Is that a problem for somebody? I had it nailed when I was 15. Totally peaking man. You didn't? Perhaps you could consider getting another job maybe, sounds like you may have succumbed to some sort of a middle class societal misappropriative condition. I talk to four year olds and forty year olds the same way as eighty year olds, as if they were my equals. All people respect that. People are people. People don't particularly change because of the age they are. They change because of their kamma and conditions. Teenagers have the time to actually look around at the world they live in which is still quite fresh and appealing to them and they have critical faculties which have yet to be compromised by taking on the issues and explanations that generally afflict the senses of older people. They can see what the state of things is very clearly. Right through all the bs that their teachers and parents have long ago bought into. I'm not saying you have or anything. Just making broad generalizations, as everyone in this thread has.

Of course you can have a converstion with Jesus if you are one and the same person. Don't you ever talk to yourself? I do.Look, I hear what you are saying when it comes to treating all people as equals. Some months ago i actually did a short stint relief for a vacation program, looking after kids from the ages of four to 13. It was fun but hard work. I don't mind my current job and I don't think it has hardened me against teenagers. I just tend to think that having had kids and working closely with kids at a number of institutions, you get a perspective that is a little different to, say, the perspective you enjoy.Looking back at my own adolescence, I can say in retrospect that I definitely didn't have it all worked out. I was confused, tormented and so totally focused on the minutae of my own misery that I am surprised I actually survived to adulthood.Thankfully not many kids that i have contact with are going through a similar adolescence that I had. But what I have witnessed, and speaking of generalisations, is that the vast majority of teenagers are so self-absorbed that they are oblivious to others, generally, there is a lack of awareness of the impact of their actions and an unwillingness to take responsibility for their actions. I also see some kids who are having issues with sexual orientation and other psychological issues such as anorexia or self-harm.Kind regards

Ben

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Have you lived with the same young ones daily as they grew over the years from early teens to early twenties?

I think anyone who has had teenage children, and known their friends over the years, understands and sees the changes that come as they go through experiences, gain real knowledge of themselves and the world, and grow to maturity.

mettaChris

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

Of course you can have a converstion with Jesus if you are one and the same person. Don't you ever talk to yourself? I do.Look, I hear what you are saying when it comes to treating all people as equals. Some months ago i actually did a short stint relief for a vacation program, looking after kids from the ages of four to 13. It was fun but hard work. I don't mind my current job and I don't think it has hardened me against teenagers. I just tend to think that having had kids and working closely with kids at a number of institutions, you get a perspective that is a little different to, say, the perspective you enjoy.Looking back at my own adolescence, I can say in retrospect that I definitely didn't have it all worked out. I was confused, tormented and so totally focused on the minutae of my own misery that I am surprised I actually survived to adulthood.Thankfully not many kids that i have contact with are going through a similar adolescence that I had. But what I have witnessed, and speaking of generalisations, is that the vast majority of teenagers are so self-absorbed that they are oblivious to others, generally, there is a lack of awareness of the impact of their actions and an unwillingness to take responsibility for their actions. I also see some kids who are having issues with sexual orientation and other psychological issues such as anorexia or self-harm.Kind regards

Ben

hi Ben

Yes I see all of that as well and I agree with your observations in general. I was referring, I hope it was more clear, to the apprehension of the world that is typical at that age, not self consciousness. But I have seen all of the issues you mention in every age as well. What I don't think helps is being dismissive of children because the assumption is that this form or that form of awareness couldn't possibly have arisen yet. People could exercise the common decency to check first. I have seen the exasperation that children suffer at the hands of their elders as a result of this so many times that it is truly sickening. I've seen it with teenagers and I've seen it with four year olds. I've seen the amazing difference that sincerely listening to them has made, that giving them the benefit of the doubt has made, that not expecting ignorance has made. Who am I to speak to the particulars of familial relations, that would be foolish. But my parents still often treat me as if I am the same person I was when I was fifteen. It's ridiculous. I've changed and changed again so many times since then. That is one big reason why I live alone in the woods. People are continually trying to put each other into a box and then dismiss them as 'understood'. As in 'so and so is such and such' as if that is the end of the matter. Then we are forced by our friends and families to live in these boxes. Screw that. I will change, and I'll change all I like until I'm perfected.

Have you lived with the same young ones daily as they grew over the years from early teens to early twenties?

I think anyone who has had teenage children, and known their friends over the years, understands and sees the changes that come as they go through experiences, gain real knowledge of themselves and the world, and grow to maturity.

mettaChris

I've never had my own children but I've had a lot of other peoples children. Yes I have watched them grow from sprouts to taller than me. Working on the 2nd batch these days.

Oh yeah, and on the Jesus thing. I know I'm not jesus and I know the difference between talking or thinking to myself and talking or thinking to someone else. Jesus and I do talk and we are not the same person.

How is he these days? What does have to say about the things being done in his name? How does he look at your Buddhist thing? How does he say his dad is doing?

He doesn't mince words, he's a busy guy. Ask him yourself if you want to know. I talk to him about me, well, and us. I'm sure Dad is still on top of things. Still a bit judgmental for my tastes, but someone has to keep order. Well how would you feel about all this stuff if it was done in your name? I suppose he would have 'mixed feelings about it'. I'm sure he's fine. He's been pretty high since we lifted him up there. My relationship with him is pretty old. You may have to start from scratch, so be patient. Like I said, he's a busy guy. But he will get back to you.